Rams DT Aaron Donald Won’t Play Under Current Deal

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that there is a belief from some around the league that, no matter the fines or the effect on his free agency, Rams DT Aaron Donald will not play another down on his existing contract.

• According to Schefter, Donald is likely to hold out until a new deal is done.
• Ian Rapoport adds that if Donald doesn’t report to the team by August 7, he won’t get an accrued season for free agency and would be a restricted free agent in 2019.
• However, sources tell Rapoport that this date is not considered relevant by those involved because the Rams may just franchise him, anyway.

The Rams have recently locked up WR Brandin Cooks and RB Todd Gurley, but there haven’t been any updates regarding progress between the team and Donald.

Jason La Canfora reported that Donald has told some close to him that he anticipates a new deal with the Rams being done before the start of training camp. La Canfora added that it would “behoove” to get an agreement in place with Donald and this is what they’re hoping to do in the coming weeks.

Last month, Rams VP Kevin Demoff told  Steve Wyche of NFL Media that they’re still working on a long-term extension for Donald and contracts talks have been “positive” up to this point.

“I think when you build stadiums like this, it’s with players like Aaron Donald in mind,” Demoff said. “And we’ve been at this process, working with them for the past year and a half to try to make sure that Aaron is not only here for the opening of the stadium but plays well into his years. And that he can play in the 2022 Super Bowl in his own home stadium.”

“So we’re working on it and we’ll keep pushing forward. The dialogue’s been great. It’s been positive. I think [Donald] and coach [Sean] McVay have a terrific relationship. We look forward to getting this done. And putting Aaron in the place where he should be among the highest-paid defensive players.”

According to Demoff, they’re still hoping to have a deal in place before training camp.

“Well, it will be done before the stadium’s done,” Demoff joked. “Nah, we’re going to keep wishing and hoping. I hope it’s done sooner than training camp, but if it goes to training camp, our goal is to make sure it’s done and that he feels rewarded and that it’s a win-win deal for both sides.”

Donald has skipped offseason workouts and so it won’t come as much of a surprise to see him hold out of training camp if they can’t get a deal done.

The Rams have been saying for some time now that they optimistic about locking Donald, but they’ve made surprisingly little progress the past few years.

Donald, 26, is a former first-round pick of the Rams back in 2014. He was in the final year of his four-year, $10.136 million and set to make a base salary of $1,802,250 for the 2017 season when the Rams picked up his fifth-year team option for the 2018 season.

This will run the Rams around $6.892 million for the 2018 season, but is guaranteed only for injury and won’t prevent them from working on a long-term extension over the next year.

In 2017, Donald appeared in 14 games for the Rams and recorded 41 tackles, 11 sacks, a fumble recovery, five forced fumbles and a pass defense.

We have Donald featured in our Top 25 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.